New Law Adds Criminal Penalties for Violence Against Workers
- Louisiana’s Behind the Counter Protection Act, which took effect Aug. 1, establishes new criminal penalties for threats and acts of workplace violence against customer-facing workers in retail stores, restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, pharmacies and similar establishments.
- Simple assault against a protected employee carrying penalties up to a $1,000 fine and six months imprisonment, and simple battery carrying up to a $2,000 fine and two years imprisonment.
- The law doesn’t require employers to take specific action but allows them to display signage warning that workplace violence is a crime, with Louisiana Works offering a compliant sign for employers who want to post it.
- OSHA’s General Duty Clause still requires employers to maintain a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm, and recommends retail and customer-facing employers review their workplace violence prevention policies and consider posting the available notice.
Two Construction Workers Killed in Trench Collapse
- Two construction workers were found dead on the morning of Aug. 8 after a roughly 10-foot-deep trench collapsed at a construction site in the 7900 block of North El Dorado Street in Stockton, California.
- Firefighters were called around 5:15 a.m. after a third worker, who had left the site the previous evening while the other two continued working, returned Saturday morning, noticed their vehicles and phones still at the site, and discovered debris piled inside the trench before calling for help.
- Fire crews found the trench walls had collapsed, filling the hole with debris, and spent several hours conducting a recovery operation to access and remove both workers, who were pronounced dead.
- The Stockton Fire Department said it could not confirm exactly when the collapse occurred, and Cal/OSHA will continue investigating the incident.